Simchat Torah

For some reason, probably because neither of us are mathematicians, we imagined that because there are so many more shuls and practicing Jews in Israel than in Toronto there would be far better Simchat Torah celebrations here than there. To that end, we set our hot-plate to begin warming dinner at 8:15, and left for a night of revelry.

Our first stop was Shirah Hadashah, a progressive Orthodox congregation that seems to appeal to a younger crowd. We again based our assumptions on false premises, this time that "young and progressive" meant "fun and exciting". In fact, it meant "sing one song per hakafa and stick to a strictly timed schedule, regardless of if you are interrupting people singing and dancing". There were some interesting points, such as when the first hakafa was opened to "Kohanim, the daughters of Kohanim, and the wives of Kohanim", and when women were honoured with the leading of hakafot. We'll give the shul another chance on a regular Shabbat. Once we tired of the Shirah Hadashah scene we headed back to our own neighbourhood to Yakar, a Karlebach synagogue. They were still singing and dancing, the women in the sanctuary and the men and children filling the police-lined streets. It was more fun, but finished within an hour of our arrival. We ended up getting home at 8, fifteen minutes before our food began to heat up.

The daytime was much better and just what we were looking for. We went to Shir Hadash (unrelated to Shirah Hadashah from the previous paragraph), a Modern Orthodox congregation peopled mostly by North Americans. They held one of the better services either of us has attended in recent years, with great songs, lively dancing, and little dragging-on. We left at around 1:30 for a pot-luck (meat, this time) lunch with some old and new Toronto friends, which was also wonderful.

After the chag ended (hurray for one-day yontif!) we went to Hakafot Shni'ot, a musical celebration marketed to Jerusalemites of all religiosities and ages. We enjoyed the music and the spectacle for a while, but most enjoyed bumping into friends, especially the family of a soon-to-be-married Torontonian. Rina finally feels like she is back in the Israel she remembers of seven years ago.